[ecory]

We are planning on purchasing a home in TV within the next 3 years. We did a LifeStyle visit already. Would appreciate any advice in choosing what area to purchase. The more research we do the more we realize our ideal house is not as important as the neighborhood we choose. What was your experience?

[Villager Joyce]

I believe location is crucial. How close by golf cart are you to the grocery store, squares, exercise facility and other activities you plan to participate in. We live in the south end of town. It is approx 20-25 minutes from Walmart and approx 30 minutes to go to sam's by car, but those are monthly trips. We are less than 10 minutes by cart to the bank, Publix, the restaurants and the town square we frequent the most. We go to at least one of these every day. At this time I personally think the newest areas being built are too far from commercial and "fun" that exists today. I'm sure tomorrow will bring a thousand reasons why those areas are THE place to live. Hillsborough and Pinellas seemed pretty remote a couple years ago. Long story short, being in the Villages is being in the Villages.

[rjm1cc]

See if you can rent for a few months before you buy.

[graciegirl]

I had notebooks, and lists. and I looked at The Villages site everyday back then, and printed out floor plan after floor plan. After a lot of study and thought we decided which model and where... and came here and bought something entirely different. The second time, I deleted the lists and the notebooks and the floor plans and we decided on a model and ended up with a different model AND village. The first home was in Hadley, The second where we live now and they were both just a wonderful choice.

Not much you can do wrong choosing any model or any village here.

Signed,

Very satisfied Gracie, aka Pollyanna who does NOT work for the developer. In fact I don't work.

[ecory]

Thank you for your advice. We have heard the most move 2-3 times in the villages. What are reasons people move so often?

[OBXNana]

In our case we purchased planning to be snow birds. As retirement gets closer and it's the end of April and going down to 28 degrees tonight, we may change our plans. If that is the case, we would need/want a larger place. We love being on the golf course, would like a golf cart garage, and we love being less than a mile from Brownwood and half a mile from the pool. If we were to move, some things we would change and other things we'd like to remain the same.

For us, if we were to sell and move, it would be due to a change of circumstances.

[hulahips]

Centrally located near or around Sumter is ideal for many reasons. Don't forget very important is sun direction. If you like sitting outdoors on your lanai north facing is perfect for shade take your time and try to prioritize what is important to you

[asianthree]

First house was patio villa as vaca home. Second home was cottage with 2 car garage and kissing lanai. Third house corner lot golf cart garage, and a view. Yep it's about location

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I'd say look at a bunch of homes in your price range and choose the one that you like.

[lanabanana73]

When we first rented in TV in 2012, it was in Springdale, the very NW section of TV. I had trouble finding my way south in the golf cart, but there was less traffic up there and lots of mature landscaping. It just seemed far from things, though.

Last year, we rented in Bonita and found it amazing. So close to so many executive courses and LSL. Very easy to find our way around in the cart and car. When we began looking in earnest, we ended up in Tamarind Grove.....just a bit SW of Bonita. Halfway between LSL and Brownwood and within a 5 min cart ride to seven executive courses. Easy jump on 466A to go to the east or the west. We love it!

You will find just the right place for you, but make sure you give yourself some time to experiment before you buy. Different strokes for different folks. Good luck!

[Fraugoofy]

We wanted to be close to everything but have access to several neighborhood pools. We are in a Lynnhaven patio villa, corner lot with vaulted ceilings. 6 minutes to LSL. 15 minutes to Spanish Springs. 6 minutes to Walmart. We have 2 family pools within 3 minutes and 5 pools within 5 minutes. We have it all! And I bet every Villager loves her neighborhood as much as I love mine!

[kcrazorbackfan]

We came down in August of last year. All the way down in that 1,220 mile drive we kept saying "let's keep an open mind". It was about 20 minutes after turning onto 466 that we had made our mind up that this was where we wanted to be.

We looked and looked and looked at both new and pre-owned. We knew we wanted to be at about the middle of TV and we wanted to downsize from about 2,800 sq. ft. so we could play golf more. We happened to look at a Seabreeze cottage and the wife really liked the openness of it. She searched for homes every night and around the middle of October, she found a Seabreeze and the rest is history.

We closed the week of Thanksgiving, the wife retired 2/28 and moved the same day to TV, our home in KC sold last Saturday and I'll be there FT the last of May. Life is good. TV is an incredible place and the wife and I are a firm believer that the stars started aligning years ago to guide us to this place.

Good luck in your search.

[Happinow]

Originally Posted by ecory

Thank you for your advice. We have heard the most move 2-3 times in the villages. What are reasons people move so often?

One of the reasons is back to back lanais. Being so close, sound travels and people and/or pets can be noisy. I know of three people who moved within a half mile of where I live because of problems with their neighbors behind them. Another reason may be home too big or too small.

[pbkmaine]

We bought in Santiago, right behind Savannah Center. We wanted a preowned block house with a pool, no bond, minimum work to be done. We are within easy distance of the hospital, Spanish Springs, and shopping on both 441 and 466. We don't seem to have the traffic and congestion problems up here that others mention. It's a great location. We also have terrific neighbors and a mix of ages from mid fifties to nineties. We could not be happier.

[tomwed]

It depends.
How on much do you want to spend?
Why get an opinion on what 220k will buy when your budget might be 440k? or 150k?